Pre-Halloween Post - The Scariest Time of Year

Simone St. James here. With Maureen's exciting debut of DEVIANTS on the schedule next week (watch for it, guys - there will be giveaways), I have taken the wheel at GLIAS both today and tomorrow to celebrate my favorite holiday of all - Halloween.

What is it about Halloween?

Whenever I mention how much I love Halloween, I get a chorus of those who agree with me. What is it about Halloween?

The beauty of fall?

The chill in the air?

The smell of pumpkin spice?

The fun of dressing up the children in your life?

All of those things are great, but there is something else about Halloween - and that something else is just a hint of darkness.

The sun goes down sooner.

The nights are cold.... maybe even frosty where you are.

The trees start to look stark and a little creepy.

The nights get so very dark, and all we want to do is huddle indoors. (And possibly bake. And eat candy. That part is fun.)

I think it's that juxtaposition of darkness that gives Halloween its edge. It isn't a warm and fuzzy holiday like Christmas, and it isn't a hopeful holiday like Easter. Halloween is the time of year when we give a little credit to the dark.

In fact, the tradition of dressing up derives directly from the belief that the dead - as well as other paranormal things that don't belong here - come through the door from the Otherworld and walk with us for one night of the year. Creepy?? This tradition goes back even further than you think, which is what I'll talk about tomorrow.

In the meantime I want to know some things from you readers.

How do you celebrate Halloween, if at all?

Do you love it like I do?

In honor of All Hallow's Read, I'm giving away my own creepy, scary books - THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE and three special ADVANCE copies of AN INQUIRY INTO LOVE AND DEATH, which does not release until March 2013. Both of them are ghostly reads that I fervently hope will both entertain and chill you, and (perhaps) scare your socks off if you read them at night. The giveaway ends on Halloween day and you can enter on my Facebook page.

More tomorrow....

Simone

(Photo credits: The bottom photo is licensed; the top one was taken by my mom :)